Dry electrode technology, the rising star in solid-state battery industrialization

The industrialization of solid-state batteries (SSBs) with high energy density and high safety is a growth point. The scale-up application toward using SSBs is mainly restrained by batch fabrication of large-sheet, high-energy electrodes (>4 mAh/cm²) and robust thin solid-state electrolytes (SSEs; <50 μm) to achieve the high-energy-density demand of >400 Wh/kg. Conventional slurry casting fabrications in SSBs suffer from fragility, solvent sensitivity, and blocked ionic transport. Dry battery electrode (DBE) is an emerging concept and technology in the battery industry that innovates electrode fabrication as a “powder to film” route. The DBE technique can significantly simplify the manufacturing process, reconstruct the electrode microstructures, and increase the material compatibilities. This perspective introduces the concept of DBE techniques and analyzes their superiorities, protocols, scientific principles, and potential attempts at improving the performances and production efficiency of SSBs, aiming to popularize the promising DBE toward the industrialization of SSBs.